People have asked me if I have seen his speech every day since it was awarded on Tuesday, May 13. 2014 (I've always thought its interesting that the NBA gives the award during the playoffs...long before the championship game). If you have seen it, you know why they ask. If you haven't, stop reading now and check it out.
The full speech, which is nearly 30 minutes features an emotional Durant who fights back tears as he shares a powerful message (that resonate with the words of Ryan Vogelsong and the movie Field of Dreams in the previous posting). Durant said
I had so much help, so many people believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself. So many people doubted me and motivated me every single day to be who I am. I failed so many times and got back up. I been through the toughest times with my family, but I’m still standing.
And the person that believed in him from the start is the same person he said is the "read MVP"—his mother—Wanda Pratt. The 7-footer said to her,
I don’t think you know what you did. You had my brother when you were 18 years old. Three years later, I came out. The odds were stacked against us, single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old. Everybody told us we weren’t supposed to be here.
Pratt who received a standing ovation from the crowd said in an interview with the Washington Post "I would not allow him to quit. There were times when he wanted to quit, but he couldn’t quit in the middle of a season. You had to finish what you started. And I told him he would have to do something — a different sport, whatever he was interested in. There had to be an activity outside of home. But, once you become dedicated to something, there’s a process you have to follow through."
Her son said she did much more than that.
You made us believe. Kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate. You sacrificed for us.
When something good happens to you, I don't know about your guys, but I tend to look back to what brought me here.
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| My goal wasn’t to get my son to the NBA; my goal was to push my son toward his dream. |
Although what brought Kevin Durant to where he is today is much, much different and frankly a lot harder than the road many of us travel, the person who gets us there isn't. For many of us, that person is our mom.
My mom made sacrifices for my brother, sister and for me. She continues to do so today. She believed in us; she has never made me question that belief. She wouldn't allow me to quit the important stuff (oh and she never let us stay home from school *sick* either). She is my MVP. I celebrate her today and the other mothers living and those with the Lord, birth, adopted, formal and informal. Thank you for your undying love and support on the journey to get us to achieving our dreams.
Credits
Excerpt from the speech, New York Post
Photo Credits.
Excerpt from the speech, New York Post
Photo Credits.
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